


A walk in the woods

by melodiousb



Category: Ruth Fielding Series
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-17
Updated: 2016-12-17
Packaged: 2018-09-09 07:47:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,112
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8882044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/melodiousb/pseuds/melodiousb
Summary: “Well, I thought we would have a chance to have some fun together this summer,” said Tom. “You’ve been hard at work since the war ended. You never seem to have any time for me.”





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [hhertzof](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hhertzof/gifts).



> Happy yuletide! You didn't really give a prompt, so I just tried to highlight some of my favorite things about Ruth, who is the one character I'd rescue from the Stratemeyer Syndicate if it was on fire. This is set roughly after Ruth Fielding in the Great Northwest, but the timeline won't bear too close an examination.

“Penny for your thoughts.”

Ruth Fielding stepped over a tree root and kept walking down the wooded path. She appeared not to have heard. It wasn’t until the young man next to her touched her elbow that she turned and said, “I’m sorry, Tom, did you say something?”

“Only three times,” Tom Cameron replied. “What has you so absorbed?”

“I was just trying to come up with some incidents for my new scenario,” said Ruth. “I have the central idea, but I need to pin down the specific scenes, and the landscape around here is just what I want for the beginning, when Wonota meets the hero.”

“Another picture with Wonota!” exclaimed Tom. “I thought she was going to be busy with school for the next year or two.”

“That’s just what we were talking about today.” Ruth’s eyes lit with enthusiasm, as they always did when she spoke of her career. “Her father has given his permission for her to spend the summer with me, and Wonota and I want to use the time to make another picture.”

Ruth, Tom, his twin sister Helen, and their friend Chess Copley had just been to visit Ruth’s friend Wonota, a princess of the Osage tribe. She had decided to use her salary from her successful film debut, Brighteyes, to get an education, but she was as eager as Ruth to advance her screen career.

“If I write quickly,” Ruth continued, “we will be ready to start filming when the school year ends. I’ve already telegraphed Mr. Hammond about it.”

“Will he be able to arrange things on such short notice?” Tom didn’t display any of Ruth’s enthusiasm, but she was too caught up in her plans to notice. 

“Oh, this won’t be a big production like Brighteyes,” said Ruth. “Mr. Hammond will send Mr. Hooley with a crew, but he won’t need to supervise it himself. You know I’m pretty well qualified to act as a producer myself now.”

“Yes, I guess you are,” said Tom slowly.

Ruth looked at him curiously. “Why, Tom, you don’t sound very excited.”

“Well, I thought we would have a chance to have some fun together this summer,” said Tom. “You’ve been hard at work since the war ended. You never seem to have any time for me.”

Ruth held back a tart response. She had worked hard this year, it was true, but she’d taken time to have fun, too. Tom, on the other hand, had done nothing but motor around and escort Helen to parties since his return from Europe. If his time was better occupied, Ruth felt, he wouldn’t feel so neglected. But whenever she tried to point this out, Tom took it as a sign of a commitment Ruth wasn’t ready to make. “My career is so important to me, Tom,” she said instead. “I thought you understood that.”

“I do,” said Tom, “but—“

Tom’s answer was cut off by a crash and a scream coming from the woods behind them.

“Helen and Chess!” cried Ruth. She and Tom rushed back to their friends’ aid. It was farther than they expected; Ruth and Tom were fast walkers, and had covered a good deal more of the trail than Chess and Helen since their last stop. When they finally rounded the bend in the path that hid the others, Ruth gasped in horror, and she and Tom dashed forward. 

Helen knelt by the side of the path, where the ground dropped away abruptly to a rocky creek some thirty feet below. Chess clung to the overhang with one hand and gripped Helen’s wrist tightly with the other.

Tom was at Helen’s side in an instant, offering a hand to Chess. “Grab hold of me, ‘Lasses,” he ordered. “I’ll pull you up.”

“You’ll both go over together, Tommy-boy,” Helen warned.

“She’s right, Tom,” said Ruth. “You’re too close to the edge already. Stretch out on the path.”

Tom obeyed, and when he was situated securely enough that Chess wouldn’t accidentally pull him over the cliff, Chess released Helen’s wrist and caught Tom’s hand in his.

Helen sprang back from the edge of the cliff and rubbed her wrist. “Oh, Ruth!” she said.

“Come here,” her friend said urgently. “Tom can’t pull Chess up by himself. Hold my ankles.”

Helen grabbed Ruth’s ankles as Ruth sprawled out on the path next to Tom and offered Chess a small but strong hand. As soon as Chess transferred his grip from the crumbling cliff edge, Ruth and Tom hauled him backwards, and soon managed to get him back on level ground.

“That was a close call!,” said Chess, after taking a moment to catch his breath. 

“It’s a good thing Ruth and Tom were in hearing distance,” said Helen, tart now that she was no longer in fear for Chess. “Maybe next time you won’t dawdle so much.”

“I’d just as soon not have a next time, if next time means falling over another cliff,” said Chess. “But, he added, smiling at Helen, “in my defense, the company was so pleasant I forgot I was supposed to be going anywhere.”

“Well, we weren’t far,” said Ruth, practically. “And we would have had to walk very fast to get too far away to hear you.”

The four walked on together now, Tom and Chess ahead and Ruth and Helen following slowly. “It’s really my fault,” Helen confessed. “I knew Tom wanted you to himself for a little while, so I walked slowly on purpose.”

“It’s not your fault,” Ruth said. “But you didn’t need to do that.”

“No?” asked Helen. “You didn’t want to spend time with Tom?”

“I always like spending time with Tom,” Ruth said. “But I have no reason to want time with him alone.”

“I think he would disagree with you there,” said Helen. “Ruth, why don’t you encourage him more?”

Ruth colored and looked down. “You know why, Helen.”

“I know you want him to work, but I think it’s silly,” said Helen. “He doesn’t need to. And doesn’t he deserve a break after all he did overseas?”

“He’s had one,” said Ruth. “And I want more than a useless society man.”

“You can’t call Tommy useless,” said Helen. “Not after you and he saved Chess together.”

“That’s why I expect more of him,” said Ruth. “He’s capable of so much, and if he won’t make use of his talents, he’s not worthy of me.” 

Helen looked at Ruth hard, surprised at the passion in her friend’s voice. “He will someday,” Helen promised. “You know that.”

“I hope for it,” said Ruth, and took Helen’s hand. “Come on, let’s catch up with the boys.”


End file.
